Legal Services Assistant

Newton Hill Source: WhatJobs

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An exciting and rare opportunity has arisen for a Legal Services Assistant to join the Legal Services Department.

This busy and fast paced role will be in line with YAS' hybrid working policy either working from home or from dedicated hybrid working areas at Ambulance Headquarters, Wakefield and would work alongside other Legal Services Assistants within the busy, varied, and fast paced Legal Services Department at Yorkshire Ambulance Services NHS Trust.

Main duties of the job

This role will be administering statutory disclosure requests including Article 15 UK GDPR (right of access), Schedule 2 Data Protection Act 2018 (from police forces), Access to Health Records Act 1990, S 172 RTA 1988 notice of intended prosecution notices and also penalty charge notices.

This role involves liaising with members of the public, solicitors, police forces, local authorities, social services on an external basis and with other key corporate and operational departments/divisions internally.

This post demands excellent interpersonal and communication skills, the ability to prioritise workloads, and meet statutory deadlines. This is a skilled administrative position with a heavy and demanding caseload.

Working for our organisation

Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) NHS Trust geographically covers nearly 6,000 square miles of varied terrain, from isolated moors and dales to urban areas, coastline and inner cities.

We serve a population of over five million people across Yorkshire and the Humber and strive to ensure that patients receive the right response to their care needs as quickly as possible, wherever they live.

We employ more than 7,100 staff, who together with over 1,300 volunteers, enable us to provide a vital 24-hour, seven-days-a-week, emergency and healthcare service.

Our ambition is to be an employer of choice, and we are continuously working across our partnership to improve our collective offer to staff in areas like health and wellbeing, benefits and flexible working incl. hybrid working.

Benefits:

Flexible working including part-time hours, job shares and flexible hours, agile working (role dependant)
27 days annual leave, increasing to 33 with service.
Contributory Pension.
NHS Discounts including shops, restaurants, gyms etc.
Car lease and other salary sacrifice schemes (salary dependent)
Dedicated employee assistance and counselling service.
Opportunities for research participation, career progression and ongoing development.
Well respected, committed and supported staff networks for our workforce.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To work as part of a multi-disciplinary team responsible for responding to requests for release of ambulance records and information.
To process on a day to day basis, requests for records and information from various sources, workload primarily being Data Protection requests (internal and external), Notices of Intended Prosecution, Police, Freedom of Information Act, Coroner, Court and Claims requests, in accordance with Trust Policies and Procedures and relevant legislation.
To organise and maintain effective administrative procedures for the processing of such requests, including filing systems, photocopying and postal systems.
To request and collate information from different departments within the Trust and ensure these are received within the timescales set.
To maintain accurate and confidential files and database in order to process requests effectively.
To ensure all requests are registered and acknowledged within the specified deadlines in accordance with the relevant procedure.
To be responsible for the retrieval of ambulance records and information in response to Data Protection requests (internal and external), Police, Notices of Intended Prosecution, Coroner, Court and claims requests in an efficient and timely manner.
To request and retrieve records from Trust storage systems and databases, including ONBASE, the CAD system, ePR and Restore storage.
To liaise with external and internal parties in order to co-ordinate and organise statements, witness availability and attendance at court.
To communicate with external organisations and internal departments in a professional and confident manner, involving letters, e-mail and direct contact via telephone.
To ensure that strict confidentiality is maintained at all times.
To process cheques in accordance with YAS procedures.
Provide and receive sensitive information and to deal with potentially emotional and distressing cases.

Person specification

Skills

Excellent communicator (both verbal & written) and a good telephone manner
Good planning and organisational skills
Demonstrates integrity, understanding and maintenance of confidentiality and handling sensitive issues
Experience of dealing with people and difficult situations
Ability to work constructively with all disciplines of staff

Qualifications

Educated to GCSE Standard including Grade C / Level 4 or above in Mathematics and English
Planning, organising, and running events/meetings/travel and accommodation for others
Design/developing and application of new administration systems
European Computer Driving Licence or equivalent

Experience

Experience of working in an administrative or support role in a busy office environment
Demonstrable experience of producing letters, memos, agendas, and reports
Demonstrable experience of developing and maintaining appropriate filing systems
Experience in use of databases, word processing packages, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, and ability to extract information
Good understanding of Data Protection legislation and legal processes

Personal

Ability to prioritise tasks and to manage conflicting demands on time and resources to deliver objectives and deadlines
Demonstrable experience of attention to detail, accuracy, and being observant and discreet
Demonstrates experience of prioritising work and excellent organisational skills
Ability to work on own initiative
Ability to travel throughout the YAS area

As an employer, we value the contribution that every individual makes to the success of the organisation, and we are committed to the NHS People Plan’s and our own Trust’s shared priority of “Looking after our People” by supporting the health and wellbeing of our employees. This includes those who may face barriers and disadvantages when applying for a role, carrying out their role or progressing their career at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust due to a disability, impairment, long term health condition or neurodivergence. The Trust can provide various workplace adjustments which will support employees and candidates to overcome those barriers.

A s an applicant, it’s important that you have the time, resources and space to fully participate. We want to support you in showing your skills, values and competencies at every stage of the recruitment process. Please contact us via email if you need any further support or adjustments with your application.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce which reflects the communities and patients we serve across the Yorkshire region. Our ambition is to work together to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts candidates from all sections of the community and signals our commitment to embracing diversity and promoting inclusivity.

As an inclusive organisation we welcome applicants irrespective of people’s age, disability, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented within our sector, including people with lived experienced from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, people from the LGBT+ community, people with caring responsibilities and people with disabilities. We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including an invitation to the first stage of the selection process, for applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job vacancy, and consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability under the “Disability Confident Scheme”.

Please note that the salary range stated in advertisements is calculated on a pro-rata basis if the vacancy is part-time. For zero-hours/bank worker positions, this is calculated on an hourly basis.

Please note that certain benefits may differ for zero hours (bank) workers, including annual leave entitlement which is calculated in line with Working Time Directive regulations.

Disclosure and Barring Service

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding & promoting the welfare of children & vulnerable adults. Many of our posts are subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service check (DBS). Should this position be subject to a DBS check the cost will be recovered from your salary as a one-off payment. Currently the charges made by the Disclosure and Barring Service (incl. application fee) are £46.70 for an enhanced check and £25.70 for a standard check.

Any correspondence regarding an application will be sent electronically via the Trac Jobs Website to the email address that was provided at the time of the application. It is important, therefore, that you read your emails on a regular basis and respond as necessary.

Please note, the selection processes at Yorkshire Ambulance Service are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in applications are monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills, and you will be required to declare on your application if AI has been used before submitting your application.

Our values underpin everything we do and how we do it; Kindness, Respect, Teamwork, Improvement.